Ideal Bike Quivers

So, I'm doing some long-term thinking about what I want in my bicycle quiver in the years to come. Obviously, there's some uncertainty and variability since the bikes available in a few years, when you're ready to buy, but nevertheless.... here's what I'm thinking I'd like for my personal bicycle quiver:

That makes sense. I have a Big Dummy, a full-squish AM 29er, and am in the process of selling my Ogre and buying another Pugsley.

This leaves a gap where "general purpose on-road bike" should go, but I live under a harsh maritally-mandated "3 Bicycle Rule" so my Big Dummy must work as general purpose bike. Prior to getting the Pugsley, the Ogre was doing that just fine, though.

I would be happy to have a Krampus (ready to be run SS or 1x10) and a Steamroller. I currently have a Karate Monkey and an On-One Pompino, but if I had to start again and could go for all Surly stuff, those would be the two.

Quiver - thinking out loud.

I'm also thinking of a quiver with three arrows in it:

1 - Mountain Bike. I have an '11 KM SS as my only functional bike. It's the first and only bike I ever built from the frame up. Use: mountain biking, obviously. However, it gets many more commute-to-work miles than it does bikepacking, trail riding, or general mess-around-on-singletrack miles. Which brings me to...

2 - Commuter Bike. My commute to work is a 14 mile round trip, half of which is on singletrack. My KM has done this task comfortably, but it is slow. Sometimes I want to take the road the whole way and cut the ride time in half, even though the distance is the same. I'll need a different bike than the KM to optimize a road commute. A CC may be ideal for this, and may do OK if I feel like just taking the singletrack instead of the road now and then. I used to commute on a Bridgestone XO-2 and it took me only half as long for the road route than the KM takes me on the singletrack.

3 - Long distance road bike. This breaks down into two types of riding: I want to do centuries and rando-style rides, which could be done with one bike. Pacer? CC? And I want to do some loaded touring, which may be better on a different bike. Mostly on unpaved roads. Troll? LHT? Ogre?

I may be able to economize by using an Ogre or Troll as both a mountain bike and as a loaded touring bike, depending on components. I could sell my KM or give it to my son, who would likely enjoy the heck out of it. So, maybe I'm actually down to only two bikes:

That makes sense. I have a Big Dummy, a full-squish AM 29er, and am in the process of selling my Ogre and buying another Pugsley.

Heh, I think I saw your ad on craigslist.

Anyway, for me:

Commuter: Single-speed 70s Schwinn I just picked up so I don't have to leave more expensive bikes locked in the city streets. Sure doesn't ride as nice as the Troll...
Mountain bike: Surly Troll
Touring/bikepacking rig: Surly Troll
Road bike: Don't have one
Fatbike: Don't have one

Other than that there's not too much I'd want. The fatbike is basically an extra toy since I alraedy have an MTB, and the road bike wouldn't get much use since I don't live in an area with nice roads to ride on.

I think I've covered my bases with the current stable. If I'm not at home I'm usually on a bike or working on a bike trail. With little ones I have to plan well to maximize the time I have. Having multiple bikes makes this much more exciting. Because really, I'd rather just get on a go, but responsibility calls.

FS 29er (Salsa Spearfish) Used for racing/trips/long days in the saddle.

Rigid Geared 29er (Surly Ogre) Riding trails, pavement, gravel and anything else you can do on a single ride. I like riding to the trail head versus driving. This bike does a good job of getting me to and from the trail and a great job on the trail. It also does a great job of pulling the kid trailer.

SS (Salsa El Mariachi) For SS'ing. It's good for ya

Gravel/Road(Salsa Vaya) Lots of paved bike trails here intermixed with hundreds of miles of gravel roads. They just completed an 89 mile loop right out my front door. It's good to mix it up once in a while.

I'd like to eventually have my 3 main bikes to be my 1x1, a Krampus and a Cross Check. I'd still hang on to my other "fun" bikes that don't get ridden quite as often. As someone else already said, I'd love to have most of my bikes be Surly...and that's just a matter of time

Oh, and my 1987 Peugeot Crazy Horse mountain bike. Bought new in the Darmstadt PX in West Germany. (Back when there was a West Germany.)

It's in pieces now and I'm debating rehabilitating it. Some non-standard parts there, like a 15/16th (23.8mm) seat post, to contend with. Hmm... There isn't anything wrong with it really; it's just all disassembled.

It would be a great beater/commuter/trail bike. Which is what it was for many happy years.

Might sell the steamroller if the ogre works good enough as a commuter, have a frame on order, probably will build first as a SS then likely 2x9 later. Will try using my steamer wheels for a bit before getting some 29er wheels. My instigator frame was gonna replace the vagrant but its out of commission now.

I seem to need a road bike, a mountain bike, and a utility/camping/kid trailer pulling bike. Right now I have:

- Surly CC--I like my road bike to be fixed gear, most of the time.

- Surly KM (set up as rigid SS)--I like this OK, but the tiny headtube frustrates me (I also have a Soma Juice hanging around that may get built up similarly) I might trade these both in for something else.

- Soma Double Cross--this is new, I'm just building it into my utility bike. Previously, this was a Salsa Fargo, but I wanted something not quite so heavy duty. Yes, this is very similar to my CC, but every time I built my CC into a utility rig, I missed having a fixed gear.

I also have a Stumjumper FSR 120 26er, which I'm actually quite fond of. Which is strange, because I usually get bored with full sus bikes very quickly.

Tiny in height: 95mm on my older size Large frame. I need to run 50~80mm of spacers to get the bars where I want them, about even with my saddle. It just looks pretty dorky.

I'm just especially frustrated with this right now, since last night as an experiment, I slapped a 26" rigid fork on the KM (440mm vs. a 465mm 29er fork). The dropped the front end, so I had to make up the difference with yet more spacers.

This is a fun thread. I would have to agree with the roadbike, mountain bike, utility bike formula, with one or two doubling as a commuter or tourer. So here's my current lineup:

LHT - Old Faithful. Currently set up as the utility, commuting, and kid hauling bike. And it's the sensible bike with fenders and flat pedals. In the past it's been the roadbike (did a tri it) and the mountain bike (monster trucker). Never did get a chance to tour. I thought about swapping the LHT's parts onto an Ogre. But the Trucker works fine and looks good doing it.

CC - Currently my roadbike, though only a tire swap away from being the trail bike. The CC's my choice for fitness rides, long distance exploration, and any time I want to go fast (or think I am).

On One Inbred - The mountain bike (duh). No compromises trailbike with 1 x 8 (yeah - 8!) gears and no racks or lights or nothing. And Clinton-era suspension fork and v-brakes off my defunct Diamondback. I originally wanted another Surly (of course), but used 1x1 frames were not forthcoming and the deal on the Inbred frame was too good. So far I like it and it should keep getting better as I slowly, but surly, get around to updating the parts.

What am I missing? Well I'd dearly love a 29er in the garage. Either a KM or a Singular Gryphon. Or both. I'd totally dig a more roadie roadbike - a steel one. That'd free me up to convert the CC to SS and unleash the one-geared demon I know is lurking inside it. And, of course, I think I'll need a fatbike before too long. Just a matter of time.

Wow, lots of discussion generated on this one! We just hit negative-F for the first time this year; I was all set to still bike to work but my wife nixed it (boo!). Makes me wish I had the capital for a pugsley now. I've just started bike commuting (a mere 4mi each way), and am REALLY enjoying it.

Keep the ideas and reviews coming!

PS: Anyone who hasn't tooled around on a Dummy for a while is missing a fun time. Two girls on back make it even better!

Quiver

This is a good thread. A couple of things up front. I don't own a car now and never have. I don't mountain bike anymore as there's no trail access from town (Portland, OR). That doesn't keep me from riding dirt and gravel roads, but the bikes in my current quiver can more than handle those. Also, in all honesty, I think I'm at my ideal quiver... and yet I continue to think about mixing it up and even reducing it. Here's what's in the basement now in order of how long I've had them:

1) Cross Check set-up singlespeed with Nitto Albatross bars. My current daily commuter, around town, rambler. I've had this bike for over 6 years now through countless set-ups. Although single speed now, I'm considering setting it up with gears.

2) Rivendell A. Homer Hilsen. Love this bike and will never part with it. Like a CC or LHT, it's quite versatile and has been my partner in some of my best biking adventures. I've ridden multiple brevet series, toured, camped and rambled around on this all over the PNW. I purchased it about 4.5yrs ago through Rivendell and just love it. Currently set-up with racks, fenders and platform pedals for rambling around. There's quite a bit of overlap between this and my LHT with the LHT having the advantage in the stability with a load class.

3) Cycles J. Bryant randonneur. Joshua is a friend of mine and made this bike for me a few years back. I used this bike for multiple brevets including the Cascade 1200k last year. It's a fantastic machine that is designed around carrying a front load. Nothing big but a front bag which carries gear/food.

4) Surly LHT. I had sold another Rivendell Rambouillet that I had used the money to purchase and LHT frame and put it together with parts I had laying around. I love this bike. In many ways, this is my go to bike that's pretty much capable of anything. Last year I even used it on a 300k brevet. While the frame and tires (700x35 Marathon Supremes) felt sluggish for that kind of ride it was quite comfortable. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the LHT as a randonneuring bike as long as you're not trying to complete your rides in R60 times (60% of alloted event time). Of course, it really comes down to the legs but I still think if you're riding like that you're gonna want a different bike. Still, an LHT with some 32mm Paselas, no racks/panniers, and some strong legs and I think you'd be fine.

5) Surly Big Dummy. I had wanted one of these for years. When it came time to pull the trigger I actually found myself between sizes. I had tried the 20" and 22" and in the end went for the 22" as I wanted the bars high. It was funny because I ended up not cutting the steerer tube. Currently I'm running a 10cm stem with Open Bars but will likely swap out the Open Bars for Albatross Bars. I think they're better for my needs. I really like this bike. It would probably be my go to around town bike if I had a garage. It's stored in the basement and getting it in and out is a bit of a pain. Oh well.

So on the one hand I'm pretty set on bikes. Really, I could manage fine with just the LHT and the Hilsen for all my needs. There's certainly some overlap in the quiver. I've thought of parting with the LHT and the CC in favor of a 26" DT with upright bars for commuting/campig/touring duty. I could see that happening. Probably would have already happened if I wasn't so loathe to deal with selling stuff.

All good expeditions should be simple in concept, difficult in their execution and satisfying to remember--Alastair Humphreys

Of my 5 bikes, the 3 that get ridden the most are my Surly's. I'm mostly a roadie that dabbles in mountain biking.

- 2003 Pacer with fenders. My general-purpose road bike for long distance rides, training, and occasional racing. In an ideal world, this would be replaced with a 2012+ Pacer that clears larger tires, but I'm too attached to the frame to get rid of it.

- 2005 Steamroller with fenders. My go-to commuting rig, it also gets used for group road rides. This bike easily sees the most mileage since I commute daily, year round. Typically set up with drop bars, it has occasionally seen flat bars and a front rack. Recently had a framebuilder add fender mounts to replace the p-clamps that held the fenders on previously.

- 2012 Karate Monkey with Salsa Fargo fork. My swiss-army bike. Trail setup is dingle-speed or 1x8 with flat bars. Bikepacking setup is 1x8, drop bars, rear rack, and Salsa Anything Cages on the fork. Recently I've been using the bike for winter commuting - 1x8 with drop bars and pink Cascadia fenders. I foresee this becoming the kid-hauler once my daughter is old enough.

Each of the bikes fills a need with minimal overlap. My other two bikes are just for fun - 80's Cannondale touring and an aluminum Specialized race bike.